Home is Where the Heart is
by seasidehearts
Summary: Sometimes what you're really looking for is right in front of you. [SoraxKairi] [after KH2] oneshot.


**Yay for random inspiration! Oh and I'm kinda half awake right now because it's midnight so please point out any errors, please and thank you.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

Everything was so _different_. Sora thought that returning home would be the best thing to happen to happen to him. But in reality, it was more awkward than anything. He felt so out of place, like he was simply watching a movie that surrounded him.

So he found himself on the kids island, floating atop the water. The feeling of water against his body, at least, would always be the same. He found comfort in that and often spent his time there. "Ooh…" He groaned as the thought of school starting in a week came into his head. As if it wasn't bad enough that he felt out of place with people that he had grown up with, now he was going to have to spend the majority of his day with almost complete strangers wondering where he had been for so long.

Even being with Riku and Kairi was differently, despite the fact that they had been with him on his journey. Kairi at least had a brief time period back and it wasn't _as_ bad for her. The two boys however were outcasts. Though the inhabitants of Destiny Islands did not speak those words, Sora and Riku knew. Though they didn't exactly like to admit it themselves, either.

Home was no nowhere. Merely a place where he slept, a place where he would spend time with his parents, but that was about it. Sora sorely missed the warm feeling he would get after returning home from a long trip. The way the familiar smells would fill him completely and how his bed would feel so much more comfortable than it really was after being away for so long.

Walking into him room for the first time after a year was really painful more than anything. It reminded him of the innocence and ignorance he had lost along his journey. A smack in the face that clearly said, "Hey, Sora. You're all grown up now." What happened to being a teenager? When he left home he was a kid. When he returned he was an adult; there was no in between. It was unfair.

About the only thing that remained of his childhood was the fact that he had _still_ not admitted his emotions for Kairi to her. He smiled. '_It's funny how some things never change…'_

The two were completely different people, and yet he still loved her. Loved her with all of his being. And though he knew she cared for him deeply, he still had that childish fear of rejection. "Kairi, I wish you knew…" He trailed off to himself.

"Knew what?"

He nearly jumped out of skin right then and there. Instead, he flinched and managed to inhale sea water. "_Kairi_?" Speak of the devil.

"Yeah…" Legs dangling off the edge of the dock, she trailed off and laughed at his misfortune.

"What are you doing _here_?" Sora thought this island was his solitude. _He_ was the only one that went out there. At least, that he knew of. Obviously not, as right now he was standing in the water with his clothes drenched and facing his best friend.

She shrugged, then asked sarcastically, "Can't I revisit childhood memories too?"

"Yeah, sure…" He answered, wading through the water towards her. Grinning as he reached her, he shook himself to spray water on her and annoy her.

"Hey! Don't do that!" She whined and laughed at the same time, holding her arms up to shield her face from the 'rain'.

Leaning his back against a support beam of the dock, which now his height was about equal to the top of, he answered, "You're the one who said you wanted to revisit memories."

Rolling her cerulean eyes, she then asked curiously, "So what were you thinking about earlier, when I first got here?"

"Oh, nothing…" He trailed off in a faked yawn, stretching out his arms for effect.

Frowning a bit, Kairi pressured, "It looked like it was bothering you by your face and from your tone."

Eyes diverting up to hers, Sora gave a small smile, "I'm okay, really. Don't worry so much, Kairi."

She smiled a bit in return, but still held a serious gaze, "You know, I really wish you would tell me."

The brunette chuckled, "You're so stubborn, and nosey too." Straightening his back and walking in front of her, he held out his hands and said, "Here, I'll show you."

"Show me?" She repeated in curiosity, wrapping her bare hands around his gloved ones. He nodded, motioning for her to jump down. First giving Sora a raised eyebrow, she followed his command. Giving a small squeak at the discomfort of water splashing onto her from jumping down, she then trailed off, "…So?"

This was it. He tried to find the right words to say, something that would make Kairi melt like she did watching those corny romance movies that she would force him to watch with her. He needed something, _anything_.

Getting nothing in return from his mind, Sora decided that simply words were not enough for Kairi. He leaned forward slowly, eyes half closed so that he could see Kairi's reaction. The redhead closing her eyes in response was enough for him to realize that she wanted this. _She_ loved him, and all this time he had been so stupidly in denial and afraid. He tilted his head against hers, beginning to run a hand through her coconut scented hair as he finally pressed his lips against hers.

Deepening the kiss and wrapping his free arm around Kairi's waist, he could have swore he was in heaven. When she began to kiss him back, he really began to think that all of this was unreal. Intoxicated by her in everyway possible, Sora knew he had to pull away as much as he didn't want to. The distance between their lips only milliliters after he broke away, he breathed heavily against her slightly parted mouth, "I…love..you."

Distancing herself a bit more, she smiled at him and answered, "I love you too, Sora."

He gave a broad smile, wrapping his arms around her tightly. If he had Kairi, nothing else really mattered. _She_ was home.


End file.
